MasterCard 2015 Annual Report Download - page 56

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
of MasterCard Incorporated:
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements listed in the accompanying index present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of MasterCard Incorporated and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, and the results
of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2015 in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2015, based on criteria established in
Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO). The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control
over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express opinions on
these financial statements, and on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. We
conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements
are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material
respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management,
and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included
obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and
testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also
included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide
a reasonable basis for our opinions.
As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has changed its method of accounting for deferred income taxes
as of December 31, 2015.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain
to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the
assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of
financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s
assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also,
projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
February 12, 2016